Flat storage drawers for holding relatively large sheets, such as multi-part architectural and engineering plans and/or blueprints are well known. The relatively large sheets are laid flat and form one sequentially arranged stack, and when a sufficient amount of these sheets is present, it becomes difficult to retrieve a single sheet from the sequential stack without destroying the order in which the sheets are arranged, losing the place from where the sheet is retrieved, or mutilating the sheets. This difficulty is increased when the flat storage drawers are arranged in groups or tiers elevated a sufficient height from the floor so that a ladder is required in order to allow the user to gain access to the desired drawer and to then retrieve a single sheet from the flat sequential stack.
An arrangement to assist the user to retrieve documents from a flat storage drawer is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,091,807 ('807) issued Aug. 31, 1937. The '807 patent discloses a dust cover and rack apparatus that is raised upward through an arc and remains supported in an up position by bracket arms attached to either side of the drawer. The sheets located above the sheet desired to be retrieved are folded over and held in position on the rack apparatus by their aggregate weight, thereby allowing the desired sheet to be retrieved and later refiled. Even though the upper sheets are partially supported by the rack assembly, a portion of such upper sheets lie on the sheet desired to be retrieved and, hence, the weight of such upper sheets hinders the retrieval and refiling of the desired sheets. Such an encumbrance often may lead to tearing, creasing or misaligning of the sheets remaining in the storage drawer. Further, the rack assembly remains with the associated drawer and is of no use to a user trying to retrieve one or more sheets from another drawer. It is desired that a portable arrangement be provided to allow a user to retrieve one or more sheets from any flat storage drawer and also to allow the retrieved sheet to be free of any encumbrance caused by the weight of the remaining upper sheets.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a portable arrangement to allow a single user to remove a relatively large size sheet, such as an architectural or engineering plan or blueprint, from a flat sequential arrangement and not have the retrieved sheet encumbered by the weight of any of the remaining sheets.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a portable arrangement having clamping means that are easily used to designate or preserve the sequence of the remaining sheets so that the retrieved sheet may be easily refiled back into its proper place without mutilating either the refiled sheet or any of the sheets remaining in the stack.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a portable arrangement having means that allows one or more documents to be removed or replaced without tearing, creasing or misaligning any of the sheets in the flat storage drawer.
Still further, it is an object of the present invention to provide a portable arrangement that easily accommodates different sized flat storage drawers and, thereby, different sized retrievable sheets.
Further still, it is an object of the present invention to provide a portable arrangement to assist in the removal and refiling of a single relatively large sheet from a flat storage drawer, while at the same time be readily adapted to the provisions of the existing flat storage drawer.
Still further, it is an object of the present invention to provide a portable arrangement that is easily assembled and disassembled from any flat storage drawer.